Developers of software products or services such as personal or corporate financial management systems oftentimes encounter the challenge between security protection of sensitive, confidential, or critical information or data (collectively sensitive information) and usability and user experience in using the software products or services. Security concerns may be generally resolved by “securing the gate” such that a user of the software products or services is required to be properly authenticated and authorized by one or more authentication or authorization (hereinafter authenticate or authentication) processes before the user may access certain information or perform certain actions in the software products or services.
Market analytics from various sources have shown that complex authentication processes may sometimes cause a negative impact on the users' experience and/or the usability of the software products or services and thus pose a barrier the marketability or adoption of the software products or services. In addition, not all information accessible by users or user actions in a software product or service are equally sensitive or critical so as to require the same level of assurance. Requiring a user to go through, for example, a strong authentication process or system that require more tedious may nevertheless steer some potential customers away from adopting the software products or services, although such strong authentication process or system offers heightened protection for these potential customers.